Thread control



Feb. 15, 1944. Q N. 2,341,840

THREAD CONTROL Filed Dec. 19, 1941 i l- I L I I I INVENTOR.

04124-0. Brow/v.

BY Y

m w? M Patented Feb. 15, 1944 THREAD CONTROL Carl D. Brown, Hopedale, Mass, assignor to Draper Corporation, Hopedale, Mass, a corporation of Maine Application December 19, 1941, Serial No. 423,664

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to filling replenishing looms, and more particularly to means for controlling the filling ends normally formed thereby.

In the usual filling replenshing loom the outgoing and incoming filling ends are parted at the selvage, commonly by a temple thread cutter. Means have been provided for engaging the loose filling ends and clearing them away from the working parts of the loom so that they cannot become entangled therewith and drawn into the fell of the cloth. The U. S. Letters Patent to Brown, No. 2,206,832, patented July 2, 1940, shows a device for accomplishing this purpose.

However, in using such a device it has been found that the filling ends, after being parted, sometimes fall in a position where they cannot be engaged bythe clearing means, which is thereby rendered ineffective. To overcome this difiiculty it has been proposed to provide a, thread holding means to engage the filling ends before they are cut at the selvage and hold them in a position within the range of operation of the,

at the selvage and to place them between spaced 3 apart, non-aligned edges of the holding device in a manner to restrain them from falling out of range of the clearing means after being cut at the selvage, but permitting them readily to be pulled from the holding means by the clearing 1 means and withdrawn from the loom.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a simplified thread holding means which is formed as a unit and which readily can be secured to the loom in a position to engage the filling ends before they are parted at the selvage in a manner to cause them to be introduced within the holding means and to assume a position transversely of a plurality of spaced-apart, nonaligned thread engaging surfaces which will constrain them to be disposed in the holding means in a manner which will prevent them from falling out of range of the thread clearer when out at the selvage, but which will not offer an appreciable resistance to the withdrawal of the filling ends through the action of the thread clearing means.

These and other objects of the invention may be accomplished by the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a portion of the replenishing side of a'loom having a preferred embodiment of my invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is side elevation of the modification of the invention shown in Fig. 1, drawn to an enlarged scale, with parts broken away;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the device, partly in section, taken on the line 3-3 of Fig, 2.

The loom to which my invention is shown as applied by way of example is of conventional construction. It may include a lay I having a shuttle box 2 at one end thereof. Superimposed above the shuttle box may be a magazine, not shown, from which reserve filling carriers can be taken to replace exhausted filling carriers in the working shuttle.

The filling ends from the reserve filling carriers in the magazine are led over a thread guide 3 and secured to a thread holder, not shown.

When a shuttle is replenished and picked from the shuttle box by the picker stick 4 there is formed a filling end F leading from the thread holder on the magazine to the selvage S of the cloth.

Prior to the replenishing operation, before the exhausted filling carrier is ejected from the shuttle, a clamping and parting mechanism 5 is moved rearwardly of the loom to engage the filling end extending from the selvage S to the substantially exhausted filling carrier in the shuttle, which is now seated in the shuttle box, to clamp the filling end, part it near the shuttle eye, and withdraw it from the shuttle box. After this operation the filling end F from the outgoing filling carrier extends from the selvage to the clamping and parting mechanism 5.

A few picks after transfer the filling ends are parted at the selvage of the cloth. This may be accomplished by a temple thread cutter built into the temple 6 in a manner well known in the art.

Upon being parted at the selvage, the filling ends are secured at only one end and the free ends are in a position Where they readily may be come entangled with the working parts of the loom and be carried into the fell to cause defects in the cloth.

To prevent this circumstance from ocouring there may be provided a thread clearer which will engage the loose filling ends and withdraw them from a position where they can be harmful.

The previously noted patent to Brown, No. 2,206,832, shows such a device, and the drawing of the instant application, in Fig. 1, represents this device as applied to the loom here used for purposes of illustration. This form of thread clearer may comprise a plunger 7, one end of which is afiixed to the lay to reciprocate therewith and the other end of which is slidably mounted in a stationary cylindrical conduit 8. The plunger has circumferential corrugations 9 disposed axially along it to engage a thread and force it into the cylindrical conduit. The inner walls of the conduit are lined with a material, as clipped wool, which will grasp the threads forced into the conduit by the plunger and prevent them from being retracted by it on the backward stroke. H

In order for this device to operate in the manner intended the filling ends must be made to engage the plunger I. Under some conditions of operation, it has been found that when the filling ends are parted at the selvage, they may snap back toward the holding means with such force as not to make engagement with the plunger 1 and finally come to rest in a place outside of the range of operation thereof. Also, on some occasions, the current of air created by the shuttle entering and leaving the shuttle box will cause the parted filling ends to swirl across the lay in a position where they will be held out of the range of action of the thread clearer, and where they will likely be carried by the shuttle into the fell of the cloth.

To prevent such occurrences it has been proposed to provide a holding means for the filling ends located in a position between the temple thread cutter and the thread clearer. The previously mentioned patent to Nichols, No. 2,262,226, shows such a holding means. 7

In the present invention a holdingmeans ID of greatly simplified and practicable form is employed in this position. The holding means comprises a body portion II in which is formed an elongated slot I2 by means" of which the device can be adjustably'fastenedto apart of the loom, as the breast beam I 3. Extending upwardly from the part I I, and at a slight angle to thevertical, is a portion Hi, and on the top end of this is formed the part I5 extending in a horizontal direction. The uppermost edge I6 of the part I5 is a thread engaging surface. Formed on one end of the edge i6 is a thread engagin'g'hook IT. A second element I8 of the holding means is made substantially in the form of an elongated inverted U, on one end of which are placed projections I9 by means of which it can be fastened to'the portion M. The U shaped element has leg portions 20, the lower ends 2| of which terminate in thread engaging edges. The element I8 is secured to the portion M so that the legs 20 are disposed with one one each side thereof and the thread engaging edges 2i extend slightly below the horizontal level of the thread engaging edge it. As will be noted in Fig; 3, all of the thread engaging edges are laterally disposed in spaced relationship so that an aperture is left between contiguous portions of the members I5 and I8. This permits a thread F to enter between. the members and across the thread engaging surfaces 16 and 2|.

The outermost vertical edges 22 and 23 of the parts I5 and I8, respectively, that is, those portions of the device nearest the filling ends, are cut at an angle to form a shallow V, the apex of which leads to the aperture between the thread engaging members.

The body portion II of the, device may be formed with an offset portion 24 to enable the thread engaging portions I5 and I8 to be placed a desirable position relative to the open endof the shuttle box.

The thread holding device may be mounted on the breast beam of the loom by means of the slot I2, with the thread engaging portions extending rearwardly toward the lay. The device is adjusted in vertical position so that the lower edge of the projection I5 will clear the upper surface of the lay and extend thereover and transversely across the inner end 25 of the front box plate 26 when the lay approaches the breast beam on a beat up.

I The front box plate has formed on the upper edgeof the forward wall thereof adjacent the inner end, a projecting, horn shaped member 21.

Just prior to transfer, when the filling end extending from. selvage to the outgoing filling carrier is grasped by the clamping and parting mechanism 5, parted adjacent the shuttle eye, and drawn forwardly of the loom, it lies across the path traversed by the inner end 25 of the front box plate when the lay beats up.

After transfer of a reserve filling. carrier, the magazine is rotated one step to place the next succeeding filling carrier in position for transfer. As a result of this rotation the incoming filling end is carried forwardly to a' position in front of the front wall of the shuttle box, where it extends from the selvage to the thread holder on the magazine. This position of the filling end places it in the path of travel of the inner end of the front box plate also.

With the two filling ends so situated, when the lay beats up the filling ends are caught by the outer edge of the inner end of the front box plate and carried along with it. The horn 21 keeps the filling ends from escaping over the top edge of the box plate.

As the lay approaches its most forward position on the beat up, the front edge of it passes under the rearrnost portion of the holding means Ill. The vertical surfaces 22 and 23 of the holding means are in a. position to intercept thefill ing ends as they are brought forwardly by the box plate, and lead them into the aperture between the members I5 and I8 where they are forced along the thread engaging surfaces I6 and 2 I. The hook I! assures that the filling ends will be retained in the holding device until parted at the selvage.

Since the thread engaging edges I6 and 2| are not placed in alignment, the filling ends follow a tortuous path through the holding device. When the thread is parted at the selvage, free ing one end, there is a tendency for it to snap toward the means holding its other end. It has been found that the resisitance to withdrawal of the thread from the holding device, due to the disposition of its parts, is often sufiicient-to retain the free filling end in the holding means after the original tension in it has been relieved. But the holding action of the device is not strong enough to prevent thefilling ends from growing slack and engaging the plunger of the thread clearer.

If the filling end was originally under coma paratively' high stress, the tension in it may be enough to pull the filling end completelythrough the holding device. However, inthe lattercase, the designed resistance to rapid withdrawal of the fillingend fromthe holding device, as Well as the natural tendency of the parted filling end to impinge upon the outer face of the holding device when released at the selvage, is great enough to prevent itfrom'snapping away from the holdingmeans. Therefore the travel of the free filling end can be controlled in such a man-'- er as to cause it to fall within the range of operation of the thread clearer.

In the operation of a filling replenishing loom having this invention applied thereto, immediately after the transfer of a bobbin the outgoing and incoming filling ends are in a position forwardly of the front box plate. On subsequent reciprocations of the lay the filling ends are carried into the holding means and retained there while the loom makes several picks. The filling ends are then severed at the selvage by the temple thread cutter.

The form of the holding means with its nonaligned thread engaging surfaces prevents the filling from passing through the holding means rapidly enough to allow it to snap over the operative range of the thread clearer. The resistance to travel which the severed filling ends meet while passing through the holding means causes them to slack off until they come within reach of the operating parts of the thread clearer. The thread clearer withdraws the remainder of the filling ends from the holding means, which ofiers very little resistance to the travel of the thread at the speed of operation of the clearer, and carries them away from the operating parts of the loom. By this means the disposition of the filling ends is controlled and the possibility of carrying loose filling ends into the fell of the cloth to produce defects therein is substantially reduced.

Having thus disclosed the preferred embodiment of my invention, I claim:

1. A filling end holding means comprising a member arranged to be secured to a stationary part of a loom, an extended portion on said member having a substantially horizontal upper edge, an inverted U shaped element partially surrounding said upper edge and rigidly secured to said member in a manner to cause a filling end passing transversely across said upper edge to be forced from a straight line path by the position of the inverted U shaped element.

2. A thread holding means comprising a mem ber arranged to be secured to a stationary part of a loom andhaving a horizontal, rearwardly extending thread engaging edge, a thread engaging hook formed on said thread engaging edge, an element secured to said member and having a part located in a position abOVe said thread engaging edge and having two other thread engaging edges placed on opposite sides of the first said thread engaging edge and extending below the horizontal level thereof, the rearmost portions of said member and said element being positioned in spaced relationship to form an aperture for the entrance of a thread presented transversely of the holding means, said thread engaging edges being disposed to engage a thread introduced through said aperture and restrain it from assuming the form of a straight line.

3. A thread holding means comprising a member arranged to be secured to a part of a loom, a projection on said member having a substantially horizontal upper edge, a thread engaging hook formed on one end of said upper edge, an elongated inverted U shaped element secured to said member and placed with the open portion of the U adjacent said upper edge and with the edges of the sides of said U shaped element slightly overlapping said upper edge whereby a thread transversely drawn from said holding means over said horizontal edge and said edges of said U shaped member will be restrained from following a straight line path.

4. In a filling replenishing loom of the type forming an outgoing filling end on the replenishing operation, and having a lay and a shuttle box, and means to part said outgoing filling end at the shuttle box and at the cloth selvage, and means for catching said parted filling end and withdrawing it from the lay, and a holding means for said filling end positioned between said selvage parting means and said filling end withdrawing means, said holding means comprising a member secured to the breast beam of the loom and having a portion extending toward the lay, a U shaped member fixed to said first mentioned member and overlying said last named portion having an aperture therein for engaging said filling end, said two members providing three offset thread engaging edges to form a tortuous passage through which the said filling end is constrained to move while being withdrawn from said holding means, said holding means being arranged to hold said filling end in a position to be caught by the said withdrawing means after it is parted at the selvage but readily to permit the said filling end to be pulled from the said holding means by the said withdrawing means.

CARL D. BROWN. 

